Sometime in May of this year, Bitcoin (BTC) is expected to have its “third halving” at block 630,000.
What is Bitcoin halving and what are its implications in the industry?
For starters, Bitcoin halving is a pre-programmed event where the number of Bitcoin rewards per block will be literally halved or divided by two. Meaning the present block reward of 12.5 BTC is expected to drop to 6.25 BTC per block.
Each block is a permanent store of records. It is composed of records of all recent transactions in the Bitcoin network. A block is more likely compared to a ledger or a record book, and each time a block transaction is completed, it gives way to another block, thus “chaining” them together and creating a decentralized ledger.
As of writing, the current blocks mined are around 626,344 The third halving is expected to take place around the middle of May, between 12th to the 24th of May, when the network hits its 630,000th block.
Bitcoin was first launched in 2009 and had a block subsidy of 50 BTC. In November 2012, the first Bitcoin halving commenced and reduced the 50 BTC subsidy to 25 BTC. It further dropped on the second halving in 2016 by 12.5 BTC per block.
Why does Bitcoin cut its block subsidy by half?
Bitcoin has a total fixed supply of 21 million. At present, almost 18.3 million bitcoins were minted. This means that the number of bitcoins found per block will be scarcer, and doing a Bitcoin halving reward ensures that the total supply will reach 21 million in time. To moderate the rate of the issuance of new bitcoins, it reduces the amount of subsidy into 50% every 210,000 blocks, which happen every four years.
With this halving, the miners or the nodes that maintain the bitcoin network will create fewer new Bitcoins. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the miners’ revenue will be reduced by half. Though it doesn’t rule out this possibility, the reduction refers to the number of BTC produced and not the value of BTC measured by fiat currencies.
But why bitcoin investors are excited about the upcoming third halving?
State-issued currencies rely on tough political and economic processes. Their amount and value depend on the economic growth and stability. This is totally different from Bitcoin, which already has an amount and inflation supply schedule that is definite and fixed.
The prearranged number and schedule of BTC in the market is the unique factor of Bitcoins. This makes BTC technically scarce. Its current price and function influence its market value. Though the amount of BTC entering the system will be reduced, the demand might possibly stay the same or even higher, thus resulting in the probability of a BTC price increase. There is also the possibility of new market entrants, which might create more demand for buying BTC.
No one knows what’s about to happen after the third Bitcoin halving. As the event draws closer, BTC might be more scarce. The value of BTC is volatile around and after the Bitcoin halving. A price increase after the halving is also not a total conclusion, though the previous two halving in 2012 and 2016 proved to have a significant increase in BTC prices.
There are a lot of speculations on how this third halving would affect the BTC price as many believe that this upcoming event will still lead to an eventual increase in BTC. Thus, more earnings for its users. Another way users can earn BTC is through the Swipe Visa card rewards program available for users across Europe.
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